Chris Cornell’s family settles lawsuit filed against the late singer’s doctor

Chris Cornell family settles medical malpractice lawsuit with singers doctor

Chris Cornell‘s family has reached a confidential settlement with the singer’s doctor, whom they sued for negligence and wilful misconduct in 2018.

The lawsuit was first filed in November 2018 by Cornell’s widow Vicky and their children Toni and Christopher Nicholas, roughly a year and a half after Cornell’s death, which was ruled a suicide. According to Rolling Stone, the suit accused Dr Robert Koblin of never administering any follow-up medical examinations, lab studies or clinical assessments on Cornell after prescribing him Oxycodone.

It also claimed Koblin never warned Cornell of the possible side effects of Lorazepam, of which Cornell, “an addiction-prone individual”, was prescribed 940 doses from 2015. The family sued Koblin for negligence, failure to obtain informed consent and wilful misconduct.

In response, Koblin denied overprescribing Cornell anxiety medication, claiming the singer was “well aware” of the side effects and perils of taking anxiety medication, but asked “not to be informed” of the risks he might come up against.

The Cornell family’s lawyer Melissa Lerner has asked to have documents about the settlement, which was reached last month, be sealed and redacted to ensure the family’s privacy.

“Over the past several years, online trolls and other unstable individuals have harassed Plaintiffs, including by threatening the life and safety of [the Cornells’ children],” Lerner said.

“As recently as the past few weeks, plaintiffs have received death threats online. Furthermore, the increased attention to this case has led to other invasions of Plaintiffs’ privacy.”

Even though the Cornell family had previously suggested prescription drugs could have contributed to the singer’s death, it was confirmed by the medical examiner that the drugs found in Cornell’s system “did not contribute to the cause of death”.